The office responsible for oversight of state mental-health facilities is investigating a personnel situation at Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute that has resulted in the institute’s director taking three weeks of paid leave.

When John Shields and Karen Urie talk, they tell a love story. The elements of devotion, respect, excitement and a leap of faith combine for a compelling tale of passion for one another and for food.

Marion officials continue moving stepwise toward some yet to be identified best use for the controversial 1908 school house on Strother Street, and the next step comes Tuesday.

Billy Joe Parris, booked last September on a capital murder charge in the shooting of Chilhowie Police Lt. Kevin Testerman, received a 10-year prison sentence in a plea agreement Monday.

The nationwide slowdown in home construction is having a local effect. Coffman Stairs manufacturing in Marion has laid off 19 employees, but four were recalled Monday, according to Virginia Employment Commission office manager Betty Keith.

Chickens and a parrot. Snakes and lizards. A pony. Seeds. Herbs. Weather. Storybooks about animals and nature. It’s hard to list everything that was featured Friday at Marion Primary School’s annual Discovery Day, and those subjects are just a start.

In Smyth County’s three municipal elections today, Saltville voters had the larger field of candidates from which to choose. Eight candidates were on the ballot.
Voters dashed Billy Whitely’s hope of unseating mayor Jeff Campbell by more than two to one, returning Campbell with 212 to Whitely’s 100.

The United Auto Workers/United Defense Workers strike against General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products in Marion entered its fourth week Friday evening with no end in sight, according to strikers on the picket line Thursday afternoon.

Two Smyth County schools are among those across the state the Virginia Department of Education recognized for raising the achievement of economically disadvantaged students.

Tim Witt was only a few months old in the winter of 1962 when his mother abandoned him and his four brothers in St. Paul. The Wytheville resident didn’t see his brothers again until 46 years later, at a recent reunion he initiated.